FIG. 1 depicts a wireless network 10 referred to herein as a piconet in accordance with the prior art. Piconet 10 comprises a master 12 and one or more dependents 14. Master 12 is a communication device that may be directly or indirectly connected to communications network 16, such as a Public Switching Telephone Network (PSTN) or another wireless network. Master 12 being operable to communicate with dependents 14 over a wireless interface and having hardware and software for controlling and managing data or voice transmissions among dependents 14 and communications network 16. Dependents 14 are devices for communicating with master 12 over a wireless interface. For example, suppose master 12 is a telephone switchboard that is connected to a PSTN and dependent 14 is a wireless telephone. In this example, the communication path goes from the wireless telephone to the telephone switchboard to the PSTN, and vice-versa.
Master 12 and dependents 14 are operable to communicate with each other so long as dependents 14 are within the coverage area of the piconet, which is defined by the communication range of master 12. Typically, master 12 has a communication range of a few meters. If dependents 14 are mobile devices, such as wireless terminals, and move beyond the communication range of master 12, dependents 14 would be unable to communicate with master 12 and, thus, be unable to maintain a communication link with communications network 16. Accordingly, there exists a need for dependents 14 to maintain communication with communications network 16 when dependents 14 move outside the coverage area of the piconet.